Cherries Aren't Always Necessary
by lizbennett
Summary: James knows that he wants to have a more intimate relationship with Lily. What he doesn't know is what Lily wants, until one day...


A.N. The characters belong to JK Rowling and WB. I own nothing, except this original plotline. Please do not read if you're uncomfortable with sexual situations and humor.This is for all thoseLilies in search of a James to reprimand andcontrol. ; )

"James Potter!"

The aforementioned Marauder jerked in his seat, his mind a whirlwind of scattering thoughts…just a few seconds ago he had been daydreaming about Lily without her robes on…and there was a certain painful sensation in his robes that he was glad Professor McGonagall had distracted him from.

Taking a deep breath, James forced himself to concentrate on the present situation, and turned his gaze onto his professor instead of the beautiful, voluptuous redhead sitting in front of him, who was at the moment satirically raising an eyebrow, amused at his antics.

James gave her a half grin, a little snug at the knowledge that just a year ago, his girlfriend Lily would not have given him a second glance over his rather foolish behavior in classes. Or if she had, she would not have been amused.

"Potter? Are you incapable of listening to my instructions? Or are you merely trying to set a poor example for the rest of us?"

Sirius Black, Potter's best mate, started snorting in laughter, and James turned around in his seat to mock glare at him in response. Remus, another friend who was sitting adjacent to Sirius, was having trouble keeping from laughing as well, while Peter merely appeared nervous at McGonagall's strict tone.

"No, Professor," James finally said, once he had finished giving each of his friends equal glares. "What was the question again?"

Professor McGonagall sighed, and walked back towards the board. "I know it is Friday, and that all of you want to leave class and embark on frivolous activities that have nothing to do with schoolwork whatsoever, but please pay attention. You all _need_ to understand this material because it will be on the next exam, which incidentally is next week."

"Yes, Professor," everyone chorused, finishing with a loud sigh.

"Now then, Mr. Potter, please recite the laws for transforming into an Animagus," McGonagall repeated.

James grinned. This was a question he could answer. "Well, first of all, they must be legally acknowledged by the Ministry of Magic…"

McGonagall smiled at him when he was done giving a more than acceptable answer to her question, satisfied with his response. James sighed and sat back in his chair, pretending to fluff his hair into a mess that Lily repeatedly remarked made him look as though he "just got off his broom", but in actuality was passing a note to Sirius.

Sirius took the offered note and scribbled something in response, before passing it back to James by way of dropping his quill. As he bent to pick it up, he tossed the note into James's ready hand, which was open to receive.

This activity continued all through class, with Remus shaking his head and Peter a little hurt that he had not been involved in the note passing. Lily, the only student unconscious of her friends' behavior, was calmly listening to the lecture while writing notes. This attitude of hers relieved James and Sirius immensely, because whenever Lily did catch them in the act of doing something that involved breaking the rules, she always tried to stand up to them and protest.

Lily used to dislike James from the age of _fourteen_, when James had teased one of her friends till they cried, something he had not meant to do, but Lily, stubborn and unaware, had held a grudge against him until their final year, in which case she finally realized that the previously _unforgiven_ James did actually have moral character, something she had always thought he lacked.

This supposed moral character had occurred when Lily had heard a rumor that involved James aiding Snape in some mysterious incident in their sixth year. When she confronted Remus, who until recently had been the only Marauder she spoke to on a regular basis, (Peter counted as a student she tutored in Charms) he had grudgingly admitted that James had indeed saved Snape from a fate that could have lead to his death, and since Lily trusted Remus in matters of speaking the truth, she finally decided to give James a chance.

James would from that day forward refer to Remus as his greatest advocate, as he had been asking Lily out ever since she called him a prat their fourth year. When she finally said yes three years later (three years and a month, James calculated), he could not have been more thrilled. His only disappointment was that she hadn't let him kiss her on their first date ("I'm not a tart!" she'd protest) but eventually he managed to snog her after winning a Quidditch game in which he had nearly gotten killed and had to be taken to the hospital wing.

James, the Gryffindor Chaser, had been accidentally hit by a bludger from the opposing Hufflepuff team, and took a _fall_ that caused him to break an arm. From everyone else's view, it appeared that he was fortunate to have still been alive.

After Madam Pomfrey had attended to him, Lily had come in, crying over his body, unaware that he was pretending to be asleep, and in fact knew she was there. When she finally bent down to whisper that she cared for him deeply and hesitantly brought her lips to meet his, he couldn't continue pretending to be asleep anymore, and returned the kiss gratefully. Lily was not pleased with his great acting performance, and after realizing he was not asleep after all, slugged his other arm after calling him a prat once more.

James of course, did not mention that part when he was bragging to his fellow Marauders his tale of kissing Lily. He did, however, mention that she was an exceptional snogger, and an expert at tongue. Sirius had snickered at that last part, saying how he wasn't surprised, as Lily had a quick tongue in other aspects as well.

This had earned him a pillow beating from James, but from then on, Lily had only denied him snogs when she was angry with him. In fact, she had grown more furious when she found out he had told everyone about their hospital snog, and had refused any more snogging, much less tonguing, for the next several weeks. James still had not been able to live that one down from Sirius.

At the present moment, Lily had no qualm to pick with James, and he was privy to as much snogging as possible, and it was this fact that kept him from fully concentrating in class. That, and the fact that Lily's _skirt_ was visible through her robes when she sat down, and it revealed her creamy smooth perfect legs that James could not wait to touch…and knowing Lily, it would probably be a long wait, as in several years.

After Transfiguration was over, the entire class sighed in relief, and started chatting excitedly about the impending weekend, now that classes were over for the week. James tried to catch up with Lily, but she had already gathered her books and left with Remus and Peter before he and Sirius realized (thanks to their incessant writing of notes to one another) that class was over.

"No worries, Prongs, I'm sure you'll find her in the library studying later on," Sirius teased.

James rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I will, and Remus will be sitting right next to her explaining once more how loopholes in the rules about Animagi can be found."

"Well, that wasn't what I was getting at, but you're probably right," Sirius replied as they walked towards the Gryffindor dorm.

"What were you getting at?" James asked warily.

"You probably wouldn't want to know."

"Try me."

"Well, I was just trying to create a little humor…about Lily and you studying in the library…but not studying books, if you know what I mean," Sirius laughed and ducked as James took his bag and swung it at him, missing his friend narrowly.

"You're a dirty pervert, Sirius, you know that?"

Sirius lifted an arm and sniffed underneath. "You know, I think I forgot to shower this past week, what with attending classes and all."

"Thanks for sharing, Padfoot. No wonder you're a dog."

"You're welcome, Prongsie. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to masturbate in the shower, something I've been long denied."

"Just get yourself a girlfriend, bloke," James told him.

"When you've managed to succeed at doing more than snogging with your girlfriend, Prongsie, let me know!" Sirius laughed, running off as James threw a stream of curses at him.

James plopped himself down on the couch and took a deep breath. Yes, it would be very nice if he could do more than snog with Lily. He felt like a _martyr_ sometimes, depriving himself of what nature intended to be perfectly right. If only Lily would dump her prudish ways and finally shag with him…he knew it would be the greatest experience in the world.

He already cared very much for her…she had always been beautiful…but this past year she had proven herself loyal, brave, smart and understanding…mostly. He knew Lily cared very much for him too; otherwise she would not have been with him. It wasn't as if Lily was a complete novice; he knew he would never forgive Amos Diggory for being her first kiss. That was supposed to be his gift. And so far, the only gifts he had gotten were that of a tender hug and lips that could do incredible things when entwined with his.

They had been dating for nearly five months now. And James was ready for more. He was a teenage boy, after all. He was tired of having to satisfy himself manually. He wanted Lily…he knew she was gorgeous underneath her robes, he'd already seen the aforementioned creamy smooth thighs that curved and could wind easily around his waist…

Damn. The painful sensation in his trousers was back. It was, James felt, the only negative part of being a male. When a male was horny, everyone knew. At least women weren't as obvious. And James had enough experience to know that when women were obvious, a man could feel it wrapped around him.

He hadn't had sex in a year and a half. It was driving him mad. His only fear now, was that Lily was completely unaware of his needs. She was female, after all, and not a pervert. He already understood she wasn't a tart, and he didn't want to push her any further than she wanted to go, because he respected her, but still…how much trouble was it to just satisfy him? In terms of…manual stimulation. It wasn't as if he was expecting her to let him see her nude. Although he would dearly love to, and the visual image was making him even harder.

As if realizing he was thinking about her, Lily entered the Gryffindor dormitory. James gulped, and tried to think of thoughts that had nothing to do with sexual activities whatsoever.

"Where have you been?" he managed to gasp out.

Lily turned to him, her arms full of books. "In the library, researching a few things for Potions, I've got a ten foot essay, well, all right, maybe not a ten foot essay, but long enough to cause me to not have any time for fun until it's finished."

"Slughorn isn't that hard. He likes you," James told her. "And you do well in that class, don't you remember getting a higher score than me on that N.E.W.T. mock exam?"

Lily blushed and giggled as she made her way towards the sofa to sit next to James. "That was different, it didn't require me to look up the components of all these bizarre poisons I've never heard of before."

"Don't worry about the essay, Lily…you should worry about me instead."

"Oh?" Lily's eyebrow quirked up as she smirked. "And why should I worry about you? It's not as if you're struggling in anything."

"Well, I am struggling with one thing," James admitted.

"What?" Lily asked, her eyes lightening as she expected some silly joke from her boyfriend.

James bit his lip, uncertain if he should finally admit to her that he wanted her in every way possible, and that included shagging her six ways from Sunday and back again. "Well…I'm very _hungry_, for one thing." Hungry, he was. For food, he wasn't.

Lily smiled. "Dinner isn't for another few hours, but I happen to have a sugar quill or two I can let you have to stall your appetite till then," and she left the sofa to go to her room, leaving James to curse himself for being so hesitant.

"Problem, James?" Remus asked as he entered the common room.

"Where did you come from?"

"The library. I was getting research for Slughorn's essay, and if Lily hadn't beat me to it I would have gotten books that actually contained information I needed," Remus joked. "Although I'm sure she'll let me borrow hers, I just wanted to get it finished by tonight."

"Why, what happens tonight?"

Remus started to blush deeply in contrast to his pale features, which struck James as odd, because he rarely did blush. In fact, the last time he did turn red was when they found out he turned into a threatening creature once every full moon. James felt Remus was keeping something from him, but he was respectful enough to decide to let Remus tell him what was going on in his own time.

James didn't exactly feel like telling Remus his issues in matters of the…flesh…for fear of getting mocked. He had already had to deal with Sirius in Transfiguration today, since Sirius had guessed as to the reason for James' distraction.

So when Remus bleated out, "Nothing," and walked quickly to his dorm room, James just nodded and laid back down on the sofa, waiting for Lily to return with the sugar quills. He hoped they were cherry. It would be considered a sign for something he was hoping for.

"Here you are," Lily said as she returned to the common room, sugar quills in hand. James took them eagerly. Sure enough, they were cherry. A slight smile came to his face.

"Hope you like them," Lily said. "Cherry's my favorite."

James chuckled. "I'm glad," he told her as he started on a sugar quill. "Want to share the other with me?"

Lily shrugged. "Might as well…I guess I'm rather hungry as well."

James's eyes widened as he watched her trace her tongue along with feathers of the quill, and leisurely suck. It was probably the most erotic thing he'd ever seen in his life. Lily seemed to sense his staring, because she focused on him instead of her quill, and realized how her action appeared. A blush formed on her cheeks.

James automatically held out a hand to stroke her cheeks. Their eyes met. Without hesitating, James leaned in and kissed her. The cherry flavor was prominent on both their tongues, and they savored the sensation as they started to cling to one another. Just as James was about to lay down on the sofa with her, Lily jumped off, pulling her lips away from his as she did so. Her blush deepened.

"I have to finish my work," she muttered as she rushed off.

James waited a few minutes on the sofa. His painful sensation had returned once again, and this time, it was enough to make him decide that enough was enough. Without further thought, he headed towards the girls' dorm, and took out his wand in order to break the charm that refused males to enter (he had learned this charm from a book in the Restricted Section and it had taken more care and work to perfect than the Animagus spells and potions had). After the charm broke, he raced up the stairs to the dorm room he was sure Lily resided in.

The door was locked when he tried to open it. Frustrated, James plucked out his wand yet again and wordlessly pronounced the counter charm. As he opened the door, he was met with a sight that shocked him more than any other.

There was Lily, on her bed. Her robes strewn carelessly on the floor. Her flaming red hair spread upon the pillow. Her nude body displaying curves that James knew were not visible with robes on. And her hand was between her legs in an act that he knew could only mean one thing…

Apparently, his beautiful, intelligent, strong, stubborn, quick-tempered, compassionate, sensitive girlfriend was a masturbator. And that turned him on faster than any Playwizard magazine ever could.

Lily's breathless moan jolted his senses, and he walked towards her, intent on helping her complete her task that he deemed as natural as anything. The floor in the room was unfortunately creaky, and the sound of his footsteps squeaked, causing Lily to halt her erotic actions and turn to him in shock.

"James!" she shrieked out loud. In haste to cover her with her robes, she slid from the bed and fell to the floor, bruising her bum in the process.

"You _thoughtless_, immature prat! Leave at once before I hex you!" she continued to shriek as she grabbed at her robes, her head lowered so as to hide the fact that she was crying in shame that one of her deepest secrets had been discovered by her boyfriend.

"Lily, it's ok!" James tried to console her. "It's not like you're the only one that does it!"

"What are you talking about? You know other girls that do this?"

"No…" James realized he had gotten himself in deeper trouble. "I meant, guys do it too! I know I do, maybe once a day at least, and Sirius wanks at least three times a day."

"That's more information than I wanted to know," Lily muttered, her cheeks as red as her hair. She was staring down at the floor, her robes covering the front of her body that James had only seen for several seconds, but knew that it constituted her a goddess.

"Lily…" James protested. "There's nothing wrong with what I caught you doing. In fact, I'm…glad…"

Lily looked up at him, her face still blazing red, but hope was blatantly etched in her eyes. "Why?"

"Because…" James took a deep breath. "Because…whenever I masturbate, I think of you. I think I have ever since I started at the ripe young age of 13."

Lily's jaw widened. "13?"

"Yes…when I used my wand to raise your skirt so I could see what kind of panties you wore."

"WHAT!"

James instantly regretted admitting this bit of information to Lily, but felt that it was necessary to tell the truth for once. "Yes. I admit, it was wrong! But I was only 13!"

"So that's why you kept asking me out since then!"

It was James's turn to blush. "Well…I was only 13, after all!"

Lily shook her head. "This is ridiculous, James!"

"I agree," James said, hoping that Lily would drop his stupid admittance and they could discuss more…interesting things. "So how long have you been wanking?"

"James!"

He knew that if Lily had been properly dressed and had her wand in her hand, then he'd be in trouble. "Well, it's perfectly natural for me to ask that!"

"Since I was 15," Lily sniffed.

"Really? That wouldn't have started after…say…you told me off outside when I was hexing Snape, would it?"

Lily turned a little red, and James felt another smug grin about to erupt on his face. Wanting to prolong it, he said, "You do know that you can use your wand to…um…maximize pleasure, right?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't want to know how you learn these things."

"I do read Playwizard, after all," James admitted. "It tells us all the charms and spells you women think that we don't know about."

Lily sighed. "Well, since we're telling the truth…I have used my wand for…certain things…that I read in Playwitch."

"I knew you read that!" James yelped in joy. "I wondered what you were hiding when we were on the train to Hogwarts earlier this year!"

"Yes, that was it."

"I really like our being honest with each other. We should do this more often," James told her.

"Do what? Watch while I wank?" Lily snorted in disgust.

"Well, you said it, I didn't."

"James!"

"All right, I was kidding! But seriously, while I'm here…you wouldn't mind giving me a private demonstration…would you?"

"Absolutely not!" Lily huffed. "Now please leave so I can get dressed!"

"What's the point?" James asked. "I've already seen you naked. Now I'm going to spend the rest of the day, the rest of the year, in fact, thinking about this particular scenario. Do you know how much torture that is?"

"I can't imagine," Lily said, but her eyes refused to meet James's, and he knew instantly that she was lying.

"You know, Lily, I've been wanting to do more than snog with you for sometime now. And since we're in our final year now, and since it's obvious we're destined to be together for ever…"

"James, I'm not sure I'm ready for us to move to that level in our relationship. It's a lot to ask."

"But Lily…" James protested. "You're all I ever think about! You know why I got in trouble with McGonagall in Transfiguration earlier? Because I was thinking how beautiful you are and how much I want to be with you forever!"

"James, stop blabbering on so," Lily snapped, but he could tell she was immensely pleased with his reaction.

"Well…what say we just forget the embarrassing part and go straight to the more satisfying part?"

"James…I'm not in the mood…not anymore…"

"Will you let me know when you are?"

"Maybe…when I'm ready…and don't feel pressured…"

A YEAR LATER ON THEIR WEDDING NIGHT:

"I can't believe I've lasted this long," James told himself in the mirror of the bathroom of the new house that he and Lily lived in. They had just gotten married several hours ago, and after an incredibly wonderful reception in which Sirius and Remus toasted the bride and groom, offering their congratulations, along with a few snickering jokes about James, and more than enough compliments to Lily's beauty and kindness, everyone had finally left, and the food was all gone.

Now all that was left was to 'consummate' their union. The trouble was, James had been anticipating this night for so many years, that he felt so overwhelmed. He knew Lily was anticipating something magical and special, and he wanted to give her that. At the same time, he hadn't had sex in years…and was worried that he'd be a bit rusty.

When he finally convinced himself that everything was going to be fine, as long as he managed to bring Lily to completion before himself, then he opened the bathroom door. What he met upon walking into his bedroom was an utter surprise.

The entire room was dim except for a lighted scented _candle_ here and there. The floor was strewn with rose petals, the colors a mixture of white, pink and red. Romantic music was playing softly in the background, and on the center of the bed was Lily. She looked so exquisite that James took a deep sigh, inhaling the entire vision that beheld his eyes.

Lily was wearing a lacey silk negligee that matched the color of her eyes. The moonlight that crept from the outside was splayed on the bed, making her appear to be an erotic nymph of the night. And making James feel _blessed_ to be her husband and soon-to-be lover.

"Lily," he called out hoarsely, practically afraid to speak, so worried that this was all a dream and he'd wake up alone and needy.

Lily walked gracefully over to him, and placed a finger to his lips. Then she smiled. "Remember when I told you I'd let you know when I was ready?"

"Yes," James answered in that unrecognizable hoarse voice.

Lily kissed him softly on the neck before whispering in his ear. "I'm ready now."

That was all James needed to know. Before Lily could tempt him further, she was clasped in his arms, and her lips were met with his in a passionate kiss.

Before they knew it, they were both on the bed, kissing and stroking and moaning words of contentment and arousal. Lily's negligee slipped off her smooth as butter, while James couldn't remember if he came out of the bathroom wearing anything or not. He did know, however, that there was not a trace of Lily's body that was not touched, kissed, or worshipped.

Before he knew it, he was ready to embark on the final act of love. In actuality, he had been ready for the past 7 years, but it was finally coming real. Lily moaned as he entered her. He braced himself, knowing she'd probably feel pain upon his entry, but knowing also she'd feel tight, hot, wet, and perfect. But as he entered her, bit by bit, the confident pride he was feeling in knowing he was her first soon drifted away as he realized, that there was no…cherry.

"Lily," he said hoarsely as he fully entered her, not noticing any trace of a wince on her face that portrayed her as a virgin enduring her first time being entered by a man.

"Yes?" she asked him as she kissed his throat.

"Where is it?"

"Where's what?" she asked him.

"Your barrier."

"My what?" And with a start, Lily's confused eyes met James's disappointed ones.

"You heard me," he gasped out as he started thrusting in and out of her. Although he was feeling intense anger and a sense of loss, he could not prevent his body from satisfying his needs. He was going to have sex before he went to bed, or he would proclaim himself to no longer be a man.

"Where. Is. Your. Hymen," he explained, as he picked up his rhythm and grasped her legs around his waist. They were even softer and firmer than he originally thought.

"You bastard!" Lily growled in his ear, as she lifted her hips up to match his rhythm stroke for stroke. "Did you really imagine, that after finding me MASTURBATING IN MY BED that I would still have a HYMEN!"

"Well," James panted as he thrusted even harder into her, "It's a bit of a disappointment to think your wife is a virgin all these years until you find out the truth on your wedding night!"

"I find that amusing and absurd at the same time," Lily growled yet again, this time biting his neck. "You even asked at the time if I used my WAND to satisfy myself…and I couldn't answer you at the time because I was too embarrassed, but since I'm having sex with you now I might as well tell you…my WAND could match your PENIS any day!"

James was so shocked at her declaration that he stopped in mid-thrust. Lily groaned at the loss of penetration and shifted her hips up further to encase him deeper in her. "Keep going, dammit!"

"You mean to tell me," James said as he willingly continued, "That you used your WAND to break your CHERRY…I mean…your VIRGINITY!"

"That's right, dumb ass!" Lily snapped. "I knew that if I left it to a man that he'd probably want it to hurt so he could get some sadistic pleasure out of it, along with being my first, and I refused to let any smug bastard get the better of me, so I had sex with more magical dildos than you could possibly imagine!"

James knew at that moment that there was no way in Merlin he'd ever be able to match wits with Lily. And as she forced him to roll over so she could take top, still matching his rhythm with intensity, he complied, and as she came, her muscles spasming and clamping tight over him, he grabbed her hips and held her as she moaned in ecstasy. Then he came with more force than any wank or other girl had ever brought him too.

When they caught their breaths, both spent, Lily laid down on brought his face to meet hers. His eyes reluctantly drifted from her heaving chest to her eyes.

"James, I love you, truly I do, but you've got some very ancient ideas in your expectations about women and sex."

James shrugged. "Well, I've never been with a virgin, but I know based on rumors and my own dad's words what to expect…I guess I was…"

"Wrong," Lily finished for him. "And for what it's worth, you ARE my first. My first love, and my first lover. My first and last, for all eternity."

James smiled, now feeling complete in more ways than one. "As you are mine."

Lily raised her eyebrows, and James smiled sheepishly. "Well…one out of two isn't bad."

Lily laughed out loud, and crushed her lips to his, satisfied that he finally understood that cherries and virginity weren't necessarily the same, and he should never mix the two ever again.

However, for the rest of the evening, they wore themselves to exhaustion making love in every corner of the room, as well as the bathroom, and numerous cherry sugar quills that Sirius had given them as a gift were used in the process.


End file.
